I live in Southern Louisiana and this guy was found near a lake, but no one knows what he is or if it is a he.
He was banged up and all gray when they found him, once they knew he wasn't going to die they asked me if I knew what to do since they knew I had a tortoise.
What I know to do is post him and let you experts tell me what he is!
Thanks!
Looks like a old boxie to me, how long have you/them had it? If it hasn't been exposed to other turts or torts and you haven't had him to long you might want to put it right back where they found it. If not here is a link for box turtle care
http://www.boxturtlesite.info looks to be a 3 toed boxie. Is the plastron(bottom) have a concaved area towards the lower half ? Do you have any other shots of the tail? As for the sex I am undecided. But I am leaning towards male.
I also lean toward male. I think it is a gulf coast (T.c. major)/three-toed (T.c.triungulas) intergrade (not uncommon at all in that area).
thats one unique looking animal. those eyes just might give me nightmares!
the shell is flat but the tail is long
gulf three toed box turtle i think it is too - i will probably put it back into the wild as soon as i find out a good spot.
You will need to put it back in the exact same area it came from or otherwise it will aimlessly search for home. Boxes are very familiar with their home range, knowing where all food, water, and shelter is. Out of it, they are lost and will most likely die of starvation, predation, or even run over. This is the big problem in reestablishing them in new but good habitat.
You have a male Three-toed box turtle, Terrapene carolina triunguis. No cross there at all. From the pictures he looks to be 4 inches SCL. I have a group of 2.1 southern Louisiana Three-toeds and they are all only 4 inches SCL.
I can't say I've ever seen a cross between the 2 subspecies as they occur in different habitats. In the bad old days when I had all my box turtles together. I only saw one attempted mating between a gulf coast male and a female three-toed out of hundreds of breedings.
The mating wasn't successful, probably because of the size difference.
Danny
Reptiles and Amphibians Eastern/Central North America by Roger Conant, Third Edition 1998, pg.161 "Within the US this and all other races of Terrapene caroline intergrade with one another in most areas where their ranges come in contact" and "The influence of major is evident along a large part of the Gulf Coast where it intergrades with other races". I once had a Florida/Gulf intergrade.
thats one unique looking animal. those eyes just might give me nightmares!
Sometimes when the male 3-toe is really ready to breed those eyes turn a bright red!
Yvonne